Paul Kelly

Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli (23 December 1876-3 April 1936), better known as Paul Kelly, was an Italian-American criminal and the leader of the Five Points Gang during the early 20th century.

Biography
Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli was born in Naples, Italy on 23 December 1876, and he emigrated to New York City in the early 1890s. Vaccarelli became a boxer under the ring name of "Paul Kelly", as Italians were not allowed to compete, while Irishmen were. Kelly opened athletic clubs that were owned by street gangs, and Kelly became the boss of the "Five Points Gang" of the Bowery, recruiting several famous mobsters into the gang; these men included Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Johnny Torrio, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone. Kelly and his gang fought against Monk Eastman's gang for years, and his men gained the support of the Democratic Party political machine in the city due to their role in election fraud. In 1919, however, Kelly was expelled from the International Longshoremen's Association, and he lost his political backing as local politicians began to clean up the Bowery. He died in 1936 at the age of 69.